Contemplating Mortality
by YappiChick
Summary: It surprised Cortana how much these deaths were affecting her. Hundreds of millions of people died on Reach, but she hadn't been as moved as she was now.  Set during Halo: CE


**Author's Notes: This takes place during the beginning of the "Halo" campaign level during Halo: CE. References to Eric Nylund's "The Fall of Reach" abound. Comments are like candy for the author's soul. Just sayin'.  
**

* * *

Cortana knew the Chief should have taken a seat.

Maybe if he had taken the time to strap in, the Chief wouldn't have been knocked unconscious as the Bumblebee crashed onto the surface of this mysterious object. But, it was becoming clear to the AI that the Spartan was as stubborn as he was lucky. It would account for his high rate of successful missions.

Though he might have been unresponsive, his armor and its sensors were working fine. Cortana used the armor's systems to get an idea of what waited for her and the Chief when he woke up.

A quick external scan of the ship confirmed her worst fears; everyone but the Master Chief had died.

The medical readouts from an internal scan showed that the Chief had suffered a concussion, several bruised ribs and a dislocated shoulder.

Stubborn Spartan.

Now, she had to wait for him to regain consciousness, but they were running out of time. No Covenant were inbound yet, but Cortana knew that the Covenant were bound to send scout ships to scavenge the wreckage. If they found the Chief-and her- then Captain Keyes' orders were made in vain.

"Come on, Chief," she urged.

He remained motionless.

If the Covenant did find her and the Chief didn't wake up, she would have no choice but the activate her killswitch, terminating her program. And that was not part of her plan.

"Chief? Chief! Can you hear me?" Her voice held an edge to it that normally wasn't present. She would have liked to think that she had prepared herself for whatever the mission held for them, but it was clear that she was out of her element. Her fate lay in the hands of the Spartan she had chosen; no amount of data infiltration would help her get out of this situation unless the Chief woke up.

Much to her relief, his vital signs showed that he was starting to regain consciousness. Cortana relaxed; it seemed as though his luck was showing itself again.

"I can hear you." His voice was slightly slurred.

"At last!" she said, relieved. "Are you alright? Can you move?"

He slowly stood up. "I'm fine." He turned and took in the dead bodies surrounded them.

"The others...the impact. There's nothing we can do." It surprised the AI how much these deaths were affecting her. Hundreds of millions of people died on Reach, but she hadn't been as moved as she was now.

Quietly, he recovered the dogtags of those who had fallen. When he had finished, he tucked them into one of his compartments in his armor. Then, he picked up a pistol and an assault rifle from a fallen solder and scavenged as much additional ammo as he could hold.

Wordlessly, they left the fallen behind and stepped outside of the Bumblebee.

Cortana wasn't easily overwhelmed. But, seeing the surface of this mysterious ring, was amazing. She was detecting thousands of type of flora. What was this thing? And, more importantly, what did the Covenant want with it?

If anyone else survived the escape from the Autumn, they would be able to survive for a while with the natural resources found on the surface.

That was a pretty big if. Cortana still hadn't detected any beacons yet.

As the Chief approached the bridge, she almost felt relieved as she detected Covenant approaching the area. It was a welcome distraction from thinking about those who hadn't survived. "Warning! I've detected multiple Covenant drop ships on approach. I recommend moving into those hills. If we're lucky, the Covenant will believe that everyone aboard this lifeboat died in the crash."

Luck. It was the only thing they had going for them. Fortunately, the Spartan she had chosen seemed to always hold it in spades.

If the Chief was worried about being discovered, Cortana couldn't tell. The Chief seemed unmoved by the developing events. Here they were stranded on some unknown object that she had managed to lead them to, the majority of the crew of the _Autumn _was most likely dead, their captain was missing, and his heart rate wasn't even elevated.

He walked across the bridge, scanning the area carefully. His rifle was ready to eliminate any threat they happened to encounter. As he stepped onto solid ground and started climbing up the incline, two Banshees screamed in the air. He tucked himself in a crevasse in the rock wall and switched guns for his pistol.

It didn't take long for both ships to start sputtering smoke and fall from the sky, thanks to the Spartan's steady aim. Reloading his pistol, the Chief started making his way up the hillside.

The silence allowed Cortana's processes to drift back to those who died on the Bumblebee. "Does it ever get any easier?" she asked quietly.

She knew she should allow him to concentrate on the Covenant threat around them. The Banshees that he had just shot down were a sure sign that they were more likely to encounter hostiles than survivors from the _Autumn_.

He didn't reply as he moved forward. As an Elite came into view, he lobbed a grenade at the unsuspecting Covenant soldier. When the threat had been eliminated, he asked, "Does what get easier?"

The AI paused a second before answering. "Watching people die."

Before she had met the Chief, she had confidently told Doctor Halsey, she could watch him die. Now, after everything that had happened on Reach and to the _Autumn_, she wasn't sure of that anymore.

There was a heavy pause as he scanned the area. "No," he finally replied. "It doesn't."

His voice was laden with weariness. Was he thinking about his recently fallen Spartan soldiers? Or Sam, the first Spartan that had died at the hands of the Covenant? Or maybe even his own parents who had been on Eridanus II when it had been glassed?

The wave of protectiveness Cortana felt when she had read his complete CSV washed over her again. Fate, it seemed, was determined to make sure the Chief's life was anything but easy. She reaffirmed her vow to make sure nothing happened to him, despite the fact he was her custodian.

"Are you afraid to die, Chief?" It was almost a whisper, as if speaking the question aloud would increase the odds of their demise.

"No." His answer with swift and certain. "I would make sure that my death wasn't wasted."

Cortana considered his reply. Self-preservation was second only to the Alpha priority mission she had been programmed to obey. Unlike the Chief, she _did_fear her termination. She could only complete her mission while her program was operating. Offering herself as some sort of digital sacrifice was unimaginable.

She was pulled from her thoughts as the Chief lined up a shot with his pistol. He fired two bullets in quick succession and the Grunt crumpled to the ground.

"We'll figure out what this ring is, then we'll complete our objective. We're not going to die here, Cortana," the Chief said confidently.

"I hope you're right, Chief. This war doesn't need any more dead heroes."


End file.
